U.S threatens to cut Fiji aid over impunity for doomsday cult
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Jayapura, Jubi – The U.S government is threatening to downgrade Fiji to the lowest possible ranking on its global human trafficking index over its failure to clamp down on a powerful doomsday cult purportedly involved in “transnational organized crime,” a State Department official told OCCRP in a statement.
The move would put at risk millions of dollars in development aid to the South Pacific country. The State Department official’s statement to OCCRP said the U.S is cooperating with Fiji, which needs to take “decisive action” to avoid the downgrade.
Fiji would be downgraded to “Tier 3” in the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, alongside countries like Cambodia and North Korea. Fiji is currently on the second lowest level, the Tier 2 Watchlist.
The threatened reclassification follows the escape of at least four U.S citizens — including two children — since late last year from the Grace Road Group, a religious sect that hails from South Korea. Over the last decade, the cult has become one of the most powerful conglomerates in Fiji, operating businesses including supermarkets, beauty salons, and restaurants.
“The United States remains deeply concerned about indicators of transnational organized crime and human trafficking associated with the Grace Road Group, as outlined in the TIP report, as well as other suspected trafficking and persons issues in Fiji,” the State Department official said in a statement.
The State Department in late September singled out Grace Road for the first time in its annual TIP report, stating that the group’s 300-odd members in Fiji “experience conditions indicative of human trafficking.” Purported abuses include “being forced to work excessive hours with no rest days, physical violence, passport confiscation, and unpaid wages.”
Fiji Police told OCCRP that between 2024 and 2025 alone, they have forwarded four investigation files to the country’s Office of the Director of Prosecution (ODPP) relating to human trafficking allegations at Grace Road. The files include two investigations into complaints of trafficking in persons made by U.S citizens.
Read more https://jubi.id/pacnews/2025/u-s-threatens-to-cut-fiji-aid-over-impunity-for-doomsday-cult/
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